Why? 1) These firms have proven their value to real live customers, raised enough capital to be around in years to come, and are making fundamental innovations to the business process in their respective domains. As such, each should be a household name in any CRE shop. However, we're both surprised by how frequently we get asked "Which real estate tech firms should I be watching??" We wrote this piece because most people read faster than we can talk ; D

2) Collectively, these firms represent a material change in the way our industry gathers data and how we use it to make decisions. Real Estate Data 1.0 was collected primarily via warehouses of analysts calling owners, brokers, and looking up public records one by one. Each of the teams we covered has a 2.0 approach - each gets some, if not all, of their data in from customers and aggregates it to create unprecedented visibility into the markets they cover. This method is fast and relatively inexpensive. The information these teams publish is easy to use. That means that a relative newbie to Real Estate can access gobs of information which used to be the exclusive purview of professionals who'd put in their time (...often decades of it).

That matters for Real Estate professionals because this has happened before. And when it's happened, it's turned the subject industry upside down.

Full text of the article below. As always, welcome your comments, questions and ideas.

Warmly, KQK

Over the last 12 months, a whirlwind of activity has taken place at the intersection of commercial real estate (CRE) and technology. Dozens of firms have emerged, spanning all aspects of the industry from leasing to investment sales to design. Though diverse in the challenges they are tackling, these firms have in common a fundamentally new approach to data. Each is aggregating information and making it accessible in online and mobile formats.

Commercial real estate may soon face a transformation similar to those seen in travel, retail, and single-family residential real estate. Taking cues from the impact of Amazon, Expedia, and Redfin, we anticipate better customer experiences, dramatic reductions in the time and expertise needed to make complex decisions, and a fresh set of faces in the ranks of industry leadership.

Highlighted below are five of the most promising teams in commercial real estate technology.

How they get their data: Brokers provide details of lease transactions and building attributes directly to Compstak’s website.

Why it matters: Compstak is shifting the data-sharing zeitgeist in commercial real estate and, in the process, establishing itself as a source of market intelligence. In its first few months, Compstak captured 100 percent of the 2012 lease transactions in urban New York and San Francisco, enabling a more comprehensive, detailed view of the market than ever before. www.compstak.com

How they get their data: Landlords and brokers upload current listings to 42Floors’ website. These data are supplemented by professional photography provided by 42Floors and layers of mapping and neighborhood data, all of which are posted online for users to view.

Why it matters: Rather than displace brokers, the service has the potential to enhance the broker’s role. It also provides customers with greater selection and convenience than ever before. www.42floors.com

How they get their data: VTS sends video teams on site to film available space and integrates data provided by other platforms, including 42Floors.

Why it matters: Digital tours enable brokers and prospective tenants to get a detailed feel for space, tour instantly, and share with colleagues anywhere in the world—all from their own devices. For landlords, VTS introduces unprecedented business intelligence to the leasing process. www.viewthespace.com

How they get their data: Floored sends its own teams, with customized Matterport 3D cameras, on site. Floored is also amassing a database of content for furniture, lighting, and interior decoration options—“every time we scan, we get data.”

Why it matters: Floored enables developers, architects, and interior designers to render buildouts and renovation plans down to the details at a fraction of the time and cost of traditional processes and with limitless customization options. www.floored.com

5. Honest BuildingsWhat it is: Honest Buildings (HB) is a social network for buildings that enables building owners to connect with architects, brokers, lenders, service providers, and tenants.

How they get their data: HB sweeps public records for base layers of building information and builds maps for context. Service providers and building owners upload details on projects and opportunities.

Why has the emergence of tech in CRE taken so long?To date, commercial real estate has been a slow adopter of technology. Three primary challenges have stood in the way:

Real estate is not a commodity. Buying a book or a plane ticket is relatively straightforward, and the products are simple. In contrast, real estate is complex, location-specific, and high risk—so professionals have been reluctant to move any building-related decisions online.

There is no central store of commercial real estate data. Unlike other industries that have recently gone online (e.g., travel, single-family home sales, stock and bond investments), the real estate industry still has no central database of its transactions. In fact, there is not even a consistent inventory for buildings for sale or lease.

Lastly, the financial incentives for many real estate professionals have favored opacity. As a result, it has been difficult to aggregate relevant data.

Why the sudden progress?The fastest-growing commercial real estate tech companies are overcoming some of these challenges by concentrating on the most collaborative sectors of the commercial real estate industry like commercial office leasing or lower-risk services like design and building information management. The rise of technology adoption is further fueled by broader environmental shifts, including demographics (i.e., younger talent and customers), rising expectations for what technology can do, and funding from venture capital firms.

Kate Knight manages Builder Services at Redfin and is Principal of En Alza, offering strategic consulting for teams at the intersection of real estate and technology. Dylan P. Simon is an investment sales broker in Colliers International’s Seattle office and specializes in advising clients on urban real estate strategies and multifamily investment.